We have a double dose of covers today!
Granted, many of the albums I’ve been posting could fall under the “bad hair” category, but there are some in which the hair becomes the focal point of the image, whether we like it or not.
I feel like a more appropriate title for this record would be “God Really Squares My Buzzcut!”
Sometimes, God is the drug…sometimes the savior.
I can’t imagine that this only looks wrong in the parlance of our times, and it was entirely appropriate when these albums came out.
And conversely…
I’m unnerved by the blank-stared, lackluster “imploring” going on here:
Sometimes touch is not “bad,” just ridiculous from a graphical standpoint.
Oh, you didn’t think that God’s word and martial arts were simpatico? Think again…
Everybody was kung fu preaching…
Apparently, numerous film makers have enjoyed the kung fu Jesus concept as well.
There is even a band.
Now onto another kind of tough guy. Nicky Cruz has been through some things. If only more gang members experienced instantaneous conversion, eh?
Scare tactics?
And this…I absolutely don’t know…
Another intriguing subset of Christian entertainment involves faraway lands and space travel.
Boldly converting where no one has converted before!
I must have missed the flying saucer parables…
Hmm…this album has something to say. There are some major philosophical and ideological principles at work in this creation.
Technically, this is not space. Where is the Bibleway Radio Choir bus headed? Heaven? Must be someplace great, with all those people running on air to catch up.
And these boys are certainly not going to space…but they’re a-travelin’ to distant lands!
Did you know there’s a subgenre of Christian puppetry records? Believe it.
The puppet prerequisites? Awkward, malformed or otherwise terrifying.
We also find the occasional doll on these covers. Here, the doll is clearly fed up with this child’s incessant praying.
Almost forgot one! There is indeed a puppet here, but the menacing mascots caused me to overlook him entirely.
Following the outbreak of the Japan-China war in 1937, the Japanese Red Cross worked with government officials on a series of posters to educate the public about potential air raid defense.
Designed to create a pattern of “anti-aircraft defense” thought, these were displayed as part of a military exhibition in the Red Cross Museum.
New laws following the outbreak of war required citizens to take protective measures against gas attacks. The poster series covers the basics of evacuation and rescue, disinfection, gas identification, symptoms of poisoning, treatment and relief.
See the rest of the set, and learn all about gas here.
Love Week went by very quickly, and I’m left with a bunch of things I meant to post. So here they are, with minimal explanation.
FOOD:
Chocolate skulls…
This post from Let Them Eat Cake has some of the greatest chocolate skulls I’ve seen.
And now some Love Carrots…
HE(ARTS) and CRAFTS:
Geekalicious Reutersvard inspired heart (Source)
For the knitters.
Paper Ribcage with Heart (one of my favorite Valentine crafts this year).
Just an art piece I find striking (from here)
GREETINGS:
I’ll finish up with one of my favorite passages on Love. Kahlil Gibran has some deeply moving words on the subject. Read them HERE.
This pretty much sums up the past decade of my life. I might have to make one of these.
Adorn your desk with one of these, lest you forget that life is nothing but an uphill battle and a pointless exercise in futility. Or imagine that the little guy really CAN push that big rock with ease.
Via Modern Mechanix.
I really wish I had a pair of 3D glasses hanging around somewhere (I’m actually surprised that I don’t). The wonderful Agence Eureka has been posting a series of vintage photographs in 3D.
As long as I’m posting about bygone holidays, let’s take a look at J.C. Leyendecker’s tradition of “New Years Baby” Saturday Evening Post covers.
Something about the combination of babies and war motifs is particularly disturbing.
Even the benign themes can be mildly uncomfortable to look at.
However, Leyendecker was responsible for images that now hold archetypal status in our culture. For example, we take our modern concept of Santa as a jolly fat man from his illustrations. He had a tremendous influence on painter Norman Rockwell.
I actually enjoy the intense, glowing hyper-realism of Leyendecker’s work.
See the New Year magazine covers here. You can actually trace the major socio-political themes of last century in succession through these covers.
SheWalksSoftly 